1. ASTE SPONSORED SESION, NSTA 2017, LOS ANGELES, CA
What Can I Do and How Do I Get There? Trajectories of Science Teacher Learning
Brooke Whitworth, Northern Arizona University
Julie A. Luft, University of Georgia
Vanessa Kind, Durham University
Mandi Berry, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Shannon Dubois, Valparaiso University
ASTE SPONSORED SESION, NSTA 2017, LOS ANGELES, CA

2. Considering your Career
How long have you been in your position?
What are the long term goals for your career?
How quickly do you want to achieve those goals?

3. Considering your Professional Development Experiences
How have you determined what PD you attend?
What characterizes PD you learn from and take back to your classroom?

4. Features of Effective Professional Development Programs
Content focus
Active learning
Coherence
Sufficient duration
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2015). Science Teachers Learning: Enhancing Opportunities, Creating Supportive Contexts. Committee on Strengthening Science Education through a Teacher Learning Continuum. Board on Science Education and Teacher Advisory Council, Division of Behavioral and Social Science and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
This entire paper begins with professional development – and we know that there are important components to effective professional development (makes an impact on student learning):
Content focus – there needs to be a focus on the content of science. Teachers need to learn the core ideas, the cross cutting concepts, and about the scientific practices (together)
Active learning – analysis of effective instruction and the analysis of student work
Coherence in the program –align with district policies and practices –
Sufficient duration to allow repeated practice and/or reflection on classroom experience (we did not put a number on the time – as teachers learn different things at different rates). There just has to be sufficient duration. The duration could be a week or it could be year.

5. Science teachers in professional development programs
We know that teachers learn in a variety of ways;
Improve their instructional design knowledge, their content knowledge, their understanding of student learning, or a specific instructional technique (NGSS – using the practices). wh

6. Is there more to professional development?

7. Science Teachers Learning
CHAPTERS
A New Vision of Science Teaching and Learning
The Current Status of Science Instruction
The K-12 Science Teaching Workforce
Science Teachers’ Learning Needs
Professional Development Programs
Teacher Learning in Schools and Classrooms
Creating A Supportive Context for Teacher Learning
Conclusions, Recommendations and Directions for Research
FREE
Yes

9. Recommendation
Design a portfolio of coherent learning experiences for science teachers that attend to teachers’ individual and context-specific needs
There were several recommendations, and one of the more important recommendations was:
Not only becoming a better teacher, but also building your professional capacity – towards some goal

10. Reflection
Have your professional learning experiences been coherent? How or how not?
Have your professional learning experiences allowed you to build toward a goal?

11. Coherent Experiences Master teacher Experienced teacher New teacher
Those in charge of professional learning experiences for teachers should collaborate with teachers to identify specific learning needs of science teachers.
There should be a multi- year growth plan that allows teachers to purposefully engage in professional learning towards a long-term outcome. For instance, what could be the sequence of learning to become a master science teacher

12. Coherent Experiences Teacher educator Mentor teacher Some experience
New teacher
Some experience
Teacher educator
Mentor teacher
Department
head
But it could also be about supporting new teachers over time to take on new professional roles. This is something that few teachers consider or have the opportunity to learn about
What should I know and do in order to group professionally??

13. Potential Areas
Beginning Teacher
Experienced Teacher
Private Sector
K-12 School Systems
Informal Education
Higher Education
Policy
We started to consider trajectories – we have to consider what potential professional positions existed for teachers.
We developed a list that was attentive to international positions.
If we consider the different types of roles that a teacher can have – they can fall in many different areas. However, they tend to be consolidated in a few broad areas. Here is our general overview, while

14. This is the expanded view..

15. With specific details

16. Building a Trajectory Identifying research
Examining research in terms of knowledge, practices, and attributes
Creating trajectories that are progressive
With these components – we have the basis for building different trajectories .
But to do this - - we need to have a process in place

17. Template Early career Experienced Knowledge Practice Attribute
An outline

18. Science Teacher Mentors
Knowledge
Early Career
Build PCK, content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge
Build understanding of curriculum and assessment
Mid-Career
Build knowledge pertaining to teacher development
Knowledge of instructional context
Experienced
Knowledge of mentoring (e.g., feedback)
Knowledge of supervision
So, a trajectory for a professional development specialist may look like this in the area of practices..

19. Department Heads Attribute Early Career Build beliefs about learning
Emerging identity as a leader
Mid-Career
Build professional identity
Experienced
Supportive of colleagues
Representative of the department
So, a trajectory for a professional development specialist may look like this in the area of practices..
Peacock, J. S. (2014). Science instructional leadership: The role of the department chair. Science Educator, 23(1), 36-42

20. Professional Development Leaders
Practice
Early Career
Assessment & feedback
Science instruction
Communication
Mid-Career
Build assessment, instruction skills
Be able to make tacit aspects of practice explicit (explicit PCK)
Develop leadership skills and practices
Engage with professional organizations
So, a trajectory for a professional development specialist may look like this in the area of practices..
Whitworth, B.A., & Chiu, J.L. (2015). Professional development and teacher change: The missing leadership link. Journal of science teacher education, 26 (2),

21. Professional Development Leaders
Practices
Experienced
Supervise, coach, and/or Mentoring
Administrative duties (e.g. budget management, supply orders, hiring)
Communication with multiple stakeholders (e.g. teachers, principals, superintendents)
Vision casting, sets direction for improvement and growth
Data analysis
Model best practice through professional development
Engage with professional organizations
Design professional development programming

22. This is the expanded view..

25. 1987 2008 Why is this important? 15 years of experience
65,000 new teachers
2008
1 year of experience
200,000 new teachers
Perhaps this provides a way to convey new opportunities to new teachers. It makes explicit opportunities in the field..
Ingersoll, R., Merrill, L., & Stuckey, D. (2014). Seven Trends: The Transformation of the Teaching Force. Research report published by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE).

26. So, what does this mean for:
Teachers
More delineated pathways for development
Engage in purposeful choices
Teacher educators
We need to support the ongoing learning of science teachers in these different positions
We promote purposeful personal professional development

27. So, what does this mean for:
Educational researchers
We need to consider a process by while to build these trajectories and to examine them

28. Reflection
Considering your long term career goals, what type of knowledge, practices, and attributes do you need to develop to get there? If you don’t know, how can you find out?
How can you engage purposefully in the selection of your professional learning experiences to accomplish and meet your goals?

29. Thank you…
The paper for this talk can be retrieved from NSTA and at ResearchGate
Or you can